Bellevue teen’s violent arrest caught on camera

Updated 7:13 pm, Wednesday, May 17, 2017

The violent arrest of a Bellevue teenager has prompted internal investigations at the Seattle suburb’s police department even as prosecutors consider whether to charge the boy.

The boy, 15, was arrested Saturday after police officers responding to a trespassing complaint from Bellevue Square mall security identified him as a suspect in a recent car theft. The teen, who is black, was shot with a Taser stun gun during the incident, which a bystander captured on camera.

The video, included in the report available above, appears to show four uniformed police officers surrounding and restraining the boy. He is taken forcefully to the ground and shocked at least once with the stun gun.

The man pictured closest to camera in a florescent yellow coat is not a police officer. He appears to be a private security guard.

Speaking Wednesday, a Bellevue Police Department spokesman said the incident began with a trespass report from Bellevue Square security officers. The boy had been banned from the mall months before but, according to police, had returned Saturday.

Officers responding to the area learned the boy was suspected in a purported car theft days earlier, Officer Seth Tyler said. They found the boy at the QFC supermarket across from the mall.

The altercation that followed is pictured in the video. Officers can be heard warning the boy that he would be “Tasered” if he fought back.

Tyler said the boy fought the officers who were arresting him on suspicion of car theft. The boy has since been released.

Speaking with KIRO/7, the boy’s mother said she had filed a complaint with the police department. Tyler said that complaint will be investigated by the department’s Office of Professional Standards; the department’s training division will conduct a separate use-of-force review, which is standard practice when a Taser is used.

"When I viewed the video, certainly you see what you see," Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett told KIRO. "Then I watched it like 15 different times and I slow-motioned it numerous times. Each time I watch it, I pick up something new and I hear something different. …

“I would ask people to use a little bit of caution to rush to judgment based on one minute and 47 seconds of lengthier police contact.”

King County prosecutors are currently considering whether to charge the boy in the Saturday incident or the alleged car theft that preceded it, spokesman Dan Donohoe said Wednesday. A decision is not expected this week.